If we could prove by statistics the number of acquaintances a
man had fifty years ago, and those which the modern man has,
the difference would be enormous. The tendency is everywhere to
enlarge one’s circle--ambitious people with discernment, but the
foolish, blindly, without any interest or inclination to guide
them. I once heard a woman announce with pride, “I have 2,000
visits to make this winter.” She flaunted this fact before her
less favored friends, who had only 1,000 names on their visiting
lists. Could there be anything more futile than this thirst for
increasing one’s bowing acquaintances? What useless ballast
are these interminable lists, in which no place is left for an
hour’s intelligent or affectionate intercourse. The habit of
going from drawing-room to drawing-room gives certain persons
a style in conversation that is as flat as a well-drest stone,
not one spontaneous word in it, not an angle, not a defined
form!--DORA MELEGARI, “Makers of Sorrow and Makers of
Joy.”
(22)
=Acquiescence in Temptation=--See DESIRES, INORDINATE.